With the increase in popularity of handheld devices, especially mobile phones having touch-sensitive surfaces (e.g., touch screens), physical tactile sensations which have traditionally been provided by mechanical buttons no longer apply in the realm of these new generations of devices. Instead, haptic effects may be output by handheld devices to alert the user to various events. Such haptic effects may include vibrations to indicate a button press, an incoming call, or a text message, or to indicate error conditions.